History Creator / CSLewis

He was born and raised in [[StrokeCountry Ulster]]. [[MissingMom His mother died]] when he was young. He was educated in a series of English {{Boarding School}}s, the first of which was run by a SadistTeacher. He fought in [[WorldWarOne the Great War]]. He was a member of TheInklings and a friend of Creator/CharlesWilliams and Creator/JRRTolkien, whose influence partially led to his conversion to Christianity (though Lewis being an Anglican and Tolkien a Roman Catholic led to some friction). He published an autobiography of his early life and conversion titled ''Surprised By Joy''. Afterwards, he met Joy Gresham and [[CitizenshipMarriage married her so she could remain in the UK]]. Then, they [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage fell in love]] and had an Anglican ceremony after Joy was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. She died four years later. Lewis himself died the same day as [[Literature/BraveNewWorld Aldous Huxley]] and JohnFKennedy; this led to his passing being almost unpublicized.

TropeNamer for TheFourLoves (from the book ''Literature/TheFourLoves'').

* ForTheEvulz: Deconstructed in "Mere Christianity": Although it is possible to do good for the sake of doing good, nobody does evil for the sake of doing evil; evil deeds are merely the pursuit of good in the wrong way.

* AuthorTract: Everything Lewis ever wrote, no exceptions.
** Actually, not quite true. Lewis himself explained that the first book of what is now the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was initially written as a stand alone piece revolving entirely around the image of a faun carrying a pile of packages and an umbrella, in the snowy woods, next to a lamppost. The symbolism of Aslan as Jesus was entirely accidental. He attributed it to his values subconsciously coming out. It wasn't until this similarity was pointed out to him by fans and critics that he started purposely writing that way; he saw writing as way to spread the Gospel. This is why, in a study of the Chronicles in their entirety, this book has some of the weakest symbolism and allegory, much more akin to Tolkien's "applicability" in the Lord of the Rings. (It also explains why ''Wardrobe'' was Tolkien's personal favorite of the Narnia books; he found them increasingly insufferable as they became more suppositional.)
** Many of his nonfiction works avert this as well. While his religious books have always been his most popular, Lewis wrote quite a bit of literary criticism and history too.
** ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' might be considered an aversion. While the Christian themes are there, they're pretty subtle and easy to miss if you're not looking for them. It ''is'' a retelling of a pagan myth, after all.

** LowFantasy / DarkFantasy: ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' is arguably this.
* HoYay: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''The Four Loves'', making the point that those who perpetually see homosexuality in HeterosexualLifePartners have made the mistake of thinking that every close emotional bond between adults is sexual. (A key theme of the book is that there are different kinds of affection and we shouldn't confuse them.) Keep in mind, however, [[ValuesDissonance that he wrote this from an early 20th century Christian perspective]].
** Actually, Lewis was pretty progressive for his time. One of his lifelong best friends (Arthur Greeves) was gay, and he never made a big show of condemning homosexuality. In fact, in ''Surprised By Joy'', while describing the way younger boys at his boarding school were expected to give sexual favors to the older boys, he makes it a point to say that the older boys' pride was far more sinful than the acts themselves.

** Actually, Lewis was pretty progressive for his time. One of his lifelong best friends (Arthur Greeves) was gay, and he never made a big show of condemning homosexuality. In fact, in ''Surprised By Joy'', while describing the way younger boys at his boarding school were expected to give sexual favors to the older boys, he actually makes it a point to say that the older boys' pride was far more sinful than the acts themselves.

** Actually, Lewis was pretty progressive for his time. One of his lifelong best friends (Arthur Greeves) was gay, and he never made a big show of condemning homosexuality. In fact, in ''Surprised By Joy'', while describing the way younger boys at his boarding school were expected to give sexual favors to the older students, he actually makes it a point to say that the older boys' pride was far more sinful than the acts themselves.

* HoYay: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''The Four Loves'', making the point that those who perpetually see homosexuality in HeterosexualLifePartners have made the mistake of thinking that every close emotional bond between adults is sexual. (A key theme of the book is that there are different kinds of affection and we shouldn't confuse them.) Keep in mind, however, [[ValuesDissonance that he both wrote this from an early 20th century Christian perspective]]. [invoked]

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: ''That Hideous Strength'' (named after a line in a Sir David Lyndsay poem), ''Surprised By Joy'' (named after Wordsworth's "Surprised By Joy--Impatient As The Wind"), and, in a more roundabout way, ''The Great Divorce'' (a response to Blake's ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'').

** Several of his nonfiction works avert this as well. While his religious books have always been his most popular, Lewis wrote quite a bit of literary criticism and history too.

** Several of his nonfiction works avert this as well. While his religious books are certainly his most popular, Lewis wrote quite a bit of literary criticism and history too.

* AllJustADream

* WorldWarII: Much of Lewis's fiction takes place during the War -- ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', ''TheGreatDivorce'', five of the seven ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'' books, and the second book in TheSpaceTrilogy, specifically. It's usually not dealt with extensively, but you can catch plenty of references to the Blitz and the subsequent air raids, blackouts, etc. This is understandable, as the 1930s and '40s were the prime of Lewis's career.

** What later became ''Mere Christianity'' was originally a series of wartime radio broadcasts given by Lewis, meant to lift the spirits of the British people. These broadcasts were only edited and put into print after the war was over.

** Actually, not quite true. Lewis himself explained that the first book of what is now the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was initially written as a stand alone piece revolving entirely around the image of a faun carrying a pile of packages and an umbrella, in the snowy woods, next to a lamppost. The symbolism of Aslan as Jesus was entirely accidental. He attributed it to his values subconsciously coming out. It wasn't until this similarity was pointed out to him by fans and critics that he started purposely writing that way; he saw writing as way to spread the Gospel. This is why, in a study of the Chronicles in their entirety, this book has some of the weakest symbolism and allegory, much more akin to Tolkien's "applicability" in the Lord of the Rings. (It also explains why ''Wardrobe'' was Tolkien's personal favorite of the Narnia books; he found them increasingly insufferable as they became more allegorical.)

* HumansAreBastards: Appears to some extent in practically all his work, but his non-fiction dedicates entire chapters to expounding on how and why humans are bastards, and how the bastardliness can be reduced.

** Actually, not quite true. Lewis himself explained that the first book of what is now the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was initially written as a stand alone piece revolving entirely around the image of a faun carrying a pile of packages and an umbrella, in the snowy woods, next to a lamppost. The symbolism of Aslan as Jesus was entirely accidental. He attributed it to his values subconsciously coming out. It wasn't until this similarity was pointed out to him by fans and critics that he started purposely writing that way; he saw writing as way to spread the Gospel. This is why, in a study of the Chronicles in their entirety, this book has some of the weakest symbolism and allegory, much more akin to Tolkien's "applicability" in the Lord of the Rings.

* DueToTheDead: Even overdone in ''TheGreatDivorce''.

* HoYay: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''The Four Loves'', making the point that those who perpetually see homosexuality in HeterosexualLifePartners have made the mistake of thinking that every close emotional bond between adults is sexual. (A key theme of the book is that there are different kinds of affection and we shouldn't confuse them.) [invoked] Keep in mind, however, [[ValuesDissonance that he both wrote this from an early 20th century christian perspective]], and from a frankly [[LackOfEmpathy sociopathic manner]], as he doesn't seem to understand romantic attraction either.

* YouAreWorthHell: Thoroughly [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. Again, from a very sociopathic manner.

* HoYay: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''The Four Loves'', making the point that those who perpetually see homosexuality in HeterosexualLifePartners have made the mistake of thinking that every close emotional bond between adults is sexual. (A key theme of the book is that there are different kinds of affection and we shouldn't confuse them.) Keep in mind, however, [[ValuesDissonance that he both wrote this from an early 20th century christian perspective]], and from a frankly [[LackOfEmpathy sociopathic manner]], as he doesn't seem to understand romantic attraction either.

* YouAreWorthHell: Thoroughly [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]].

* AuthorTract: Everything Lewis ever wrote, no exceptions. Just to prove that TropesAreNotBad, they're still excellent reads, in part ''because'' of their AuthorTract nature.

* HoYay: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''The Four Loves'', making the point that those who perpetually see homosexuality in HeterosexualLifePartners have made the mistake of thinking that every close emotional bond between adults is sexual. (A key theme of the book is that there are different kinds of affection and we shouldn't confuse them.) [invoked]

* ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia''
** ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' (1950).
** ''PrinceCaspian'' (1951).
** ''TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' (1952).
** ''TheSilverChair'' (1953).

** ''Literature/TheLastBattle'' (1956). The last {{Narnia}} book.

* ''Screwtape Proposes A Toast'' (1961): A brief sequel to ''TheScrewtapeLetters''.

* EvilOverlord: The White Witch and the Lady Of the Green Kirtle in ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia''.
* FairyTaleMotifs: Discussed throughout his work, and given free rein in TheChroniclesOfNarnia (which is a FantasyKitchenSink).

* HighFantasy: He and Tolkien were the {{Trope Maker}}s, though Lewis' ''Narnia'' books skew more toward FairyTale than Tolkien's more epic ''LordOfTheRings''. Among other things, they [[TropeCodifier codified]] many genre staples, such as the EvilOverlord and MedievalEuropeanFantasy (before them, similar fantasy works would have taken place in the actual MiddleAges).

* TalkingAnimal: TheChroniclesOfNarnia

* WorldWarII: Much of Lewis's fiction takes place during the War--''TheScrewtapeLetters'', ''TheGreatDivorce'', five of the seven ChroniclesOfNarnia books, and the second book in TheSpaceTrilogy, specifically. It's usually not dealt with extensively, but you can catch plenty of references to the Blitz and the subsequent air raids, blackouts, etc. This is understandable, as the 1930s and '40s were the prime of Lewis's career.

TropeNamer for TheFourLoves (from the book ''Literature/TheFourLoves'') and AssInALionSkin.

* ''TheScrewtapeLetters'' (1942): An [[ScrapbookStory epistolary novel]], consisting of letters from [[UnreliableNarrator an elder demon]] to a young tempter, concerning the proper way to damn an Englishman.

* ''TillWeHaveFaces'' (1956): The novel Lewis considered his best.